Miconazole

Other Names: Oravig

Drug Class: Opportunistic Infections and Coinfections

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Oropharyngeal candidiasis is an opportunistic infection. An opportunistic infection is an infection that occurs more frequently or is more severe in people with weakened immune systems—such as those infected with HIV—than in people with healthy immune systems.

Miconazole can also be used “off-label” to treat other opportunistic infections of HIV infection. “Off-label” use refers to use of an FDA-approved medicine in a manner different from that described on the medicine label. Good medical practice and the best interests of a patient sometimes require that a medicine be used “off-label.”

What HIV-related opportunistic infections is miconazole used for?

The Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections in HIV-Infected Adults and Adolescents, prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the HIV Medicine Association of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA-HIVMA), includes recommendations on the HIV-related uses of miconazole to treat:

Oropharyngeal candidiasis.

Uncomplicated vulvovaginal candidiasis (another type of mucocutaneous candidiasis that affects the female vulva and vagina). (This is an “off-label” use.)

The above list may not include all of the HIV-related uses of miconazole recommended in the Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections in HIV-Infected Adults and Adolescents. Some recommended uses, such as uses in certain rare circumstances, may have been omitted.

What should I tell my health care provider before taking miconazole?

Before taking miconazole, tell your health care provider:

If you are allergic to miconazole or any other medicines.

About any medical conditions you have or have had, for example, diabetes or liver problems.

About anything that could affect your ability to take medicines, such as difficulty swallowing or remembering to take pills.

If you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. Whether miconazole can harm an unborn baby is unknown. Miconazole should not be used during pregnancy unless the potential benefit to the mother outweighs the potential risk to the fetus. Talk to your health care provider about possible risks with taking miconazole when pregnant.

If you are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed if you are infected with HIV.

About other prescription and nonprescription medicines, vitamins, nutritional supplements, and herbal products you are taking or plan to take. Miconazole may affect the way other medicines or products work, and other medicines or products may affect how miconazole works. Ask your health care provider if there are interactions between miconazole and the other medicines you take.

Ask your health care provider about possible side effects from miconazole. Your health care provider will tell you what to do if you have side effects.

How should I take miconazole?

Take miconazole according to your health care provider’s instructions. Your health care provider will tell you how much miconazole to take and when to take it. Before you start miconazole and each time you get a refill, read any printed information that comes with your medicine.